Intelligent Systems and Nintendo have brought a beloved Nintendo title back to life with the remaking of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. This title originally came out 20 years ago on the Nintendo Gamecube in 2004, and it’s been brought back and looks like an absolute visual masterpiece, even better, you can play it anywhere you want as it’s been released on the Nintendo Switch handheld console.

Mario is ready to embark on another journey and low and behold Princess Peach has gone missing again, you have some well-known friends and a map to find the treasure behind the ancient Thousand-Year Door. The adventure is set around the rogue town of Rogueport where there is some mystery you need to uncover. I mentioned before you have some well-known friends, but with all good adventures, you have enemies trying to foil your adventure. Like most adventures, Bowser has something to do with it but he is not the only one who is trying to find the treasure. Along with some awesome battles, you will encounter some great friends like Yoshi, Toad, Princess Peach, and more.

I loved the combat system built into this title which was turn-based. The combat was displayed as though it was built into a cardboard stage in front of an audience. The audience cheered for the combat, and like any awesome crowd, they got more excited and louder the better you were going. Some badges can be equipped which you can win or you can purchase along the way which adds more to your arsenal to kick some butt. The main thing you need to focus on is hitting the shots at the correct time to make sure you are doing the most damage.

I’m fairly certain each time I review a Switch title I make the comment I need to start playing the Switch more, just for the pure fact that I spend 10 minutes getting used to all the controls again.

There is not too much you need to learn controls-wise with this title as everything is simple to learn and self-explanatory, and if you are super stuck you have Toad to give you some helpful hints to get moving again. The combat system was fun and turn-based, but when you were doing the hits it was prompted on the screen what button to press to deal some damage.

You can probably imagine the graphics have been overhauled since the original release back in 2004, and needless to say it looks absolutely stunning on the Nintendo Switch. I never thought the Mario series needed to be graphically strong as it’s a series we all love as a 2D Side Scroller. The first difference you will notice is that the original had more of a cartoon look to the game, whereas the new one has more of a cartoon paper feel so the world looks like it was crafted out of paper and immerses you into the setting.

The developers have put a bunch of attention into the detail for this remake, which has greatly complemented the story. I loved the character models and seeing some beloved characters in a 2D universe made out of paper and how the movements were made which looked great. I was a little surprised that I preferred the visual aspects of this title in handheld mode compared to being docked playing through the TV.

I think I felt more immersed on the handheld, but don’t get me wrong, the game looked absolutely stunning just my personal preference. I loved how much effort was put into each level and how different they all looked, and like I mentioned before, the attention to detail and how bright and vibrant all the levels and areas were.

In true Mario fashion, this title has some great audio from the dinging when you select certain options in the menu, to the fast-paced arcade-style music you get in the main menu. You load into this title in a positive mind space with the happy fast fast-paced arcade-style retro music which was a great throwback, but completely different from the original if you ever played it, as that has been overhauled.

I would have loved to hear some voiced dialogue built into the game, especially because it’s telling you a story, as such you need to read all the dialogue otherwise you get left behind. I found the dialogue in the game was just random noises which became super annoying super quickly, and as much as I love hearing woo or woo hah when Mario jumps, hearing that overplaying got old. I enjoyed the fast-paced action music when you were on the combat stage amusing the crowd whilst kicking some butt, and there were what sounded like iconic Mario tunes with a great twist added in.

I’ll never not love jumping into the great world of Mario and the adventures he finds himself on, and having played the original once before I loved being able to jump back into the adventure and play it and remember. I will be sinking more hours into this title as it’s super relaxing and you can play it from the comfort of the couch, or even in bed before you head to sleep. If you want a fun-filled adventure then I highly recommend grabbing Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and diving head-first into the title. You can pick this title up for $79.95 off the Nintendo Store.

Written by: Hayden Nelson